Hello Everyone –
I hope these words find everyone coming off a great weekend of skiing. I dare anyone to say the conditions in the region were lacking anywhere. Right now just pick your mountain and let your skis or snowboards go. The amount of snow underneath you right now probably would make any global warning proponent change their mind. The conditions are that good out there right now and you don’t have to be picky, just pick a slope and away you go.
Now let’s talk about the amount of snow on the trails right now; if anyone is making their choice by comparing average base depths, they just don’t understand the situation. The time to do that sort-of-thing is when there are bare spots and you want to play on the slopes with the most coverage. The only bare spots at any of the resorts right now in the southeast region are on the roads around the resorts.
That brings me to the next ramblings for this week, the various state highway crews and the unsung job they do in keeping the roads safe for winter travel. Talk about one of those damned if you do and damned if you don’t jobs. During a heavy snowstorm there have probably been times when you think the road you are traveling on hasn’t been touched but what you don’t realize is that the plow truck had just made a pass and Mother Nature wasn’t giving them a break. What you don’t realize is that those plow truck drivers push the snow 24/7, meaning they are away from their families while making it safe for you to have fun on the slopes. The next time you pull over to that restaurant and some of the plow drivers are having some coffee or eating, it would be great karma if you picked up the tab.
Finally it’s the middle of January and yours truly has not been on the slopes yet this season. What the heck is up with that; no excuses here, just been way too busy. So I have been enjoying the various pictures posted on skisoutheast.com from the various resorts. To say I am jonesing to go for a ride is to say the least. There is my board in plain sight every time I enter or leave my garage and I feel like I should apologize to it – silly huh? Just save some of the snow for me for when I finally get a chance to hit the slopes.
That’s it for this week, just remember whether it be cold or whether it be hot, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather will be. Think about it! See you on the slopes sometime soon, I hope.
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Joe Stevens, a member of the southeast ski industry since 1990 is a regular columnist for skisoutheast.com and serves as the Communications Director for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association.